Shocking! Usain Bolt to play cricket for West Indies at Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt revealed plans to return to professional sport, but in an unexpected way. With the Los Angeles Olympics scheduled for 2028, the eight-time Olympic gold medalist is exploring a comeback not on the track but on the cricket field, as the sport makes its Olympic return after 128 years.

Usain Bolt retired from athletics in 2017 after winning eight Olympic gold medals. He grew up in the Caribbean, where cricket is popular, and once wanted to become a fast bowler. Bolt later became the most successful sprinter in history and also worked as a brand ambassador for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Usain Bolt Hints at Olympic Return in a New Sport

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Usain Bolt said that he is enjoying retirement but remains open to a return if Jamaican cricket officials approach him for the Olympics. The 39-year-old admitted that he has not played cricket for a long time, but he would be ready if he receives a call.

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“I am happily retired from professional sport. I haven’t played cricket in a long time, but if they call, I will be ready,” Bolt, 39, told Esquire in an interview.

In 2014, Bolt faced Yuvraj Singh in an exhibition game during the PUMA face-off challenge, where Bolt struck a six off the final ball.

If My Cricket Coach Hadn't Said... - Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt stated that cricket was his first sporting passion while growing up. The sprinter said he would have stayed with cricket if his coach had not encouraged him to try running.

“A cricketer for sure. Yeah, I think if my cricket coach hadn’t said, ‘You know what, go try running,’ I probably would have stuck with cricket, because my dad was a massive cricket fan and that’s all I knew growing up. Cricket, a little bit of football, but all I knew was cricket,” he told PTI last October.

“Well, for me, it was my cricket coach. I was a fast bowler, and my cricket coach kind of saw me running in and he said, ‘You know what, why not try track and field?’ And I tried, and I was really good. I was pretty talented, and that’s something that I just continued.”

Usain Bolt’s Record-Breaking Career and Cricket’s Olympic Return in 2028

Usain Bolt is regarded as the most successful sprinter in history. He won eight Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championship titles before retiring from athletics in 2017. Bolt completed the 100 m and 200 m double at three consecutive Olympic Games — Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Bolt clocked 9.58 seconds in the men’s 100 m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, which remains the fastest time ever recorded. He also holds the Olympic 100 m record of 9.63 seconds, set in the London 2012 final.

Cricket will return to the Olympics at the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The event will feature six men’s teams and six women’s teams, with 90 athlete slots in each tournament. The women’s final is scheduled for July 20, while the men’s gold-medal match will be played on July 29.

Cricket last appeared at the Olympics in 1900. At the Paris Games, Great Britain defeated France to win gold, marking the only Olympic edition in which the sport was played.

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